Tasted #439: Benromach Heritage 1972 46yo

Benromach is a distillery I've had a lot of respect for, ever since first trying their whisky back in 2013. Since that first tasting we've tried some incredible and well-aged releases from the distillery, as well as some fantastic single casks, but none quite so old as this one, which arrived out of the blue last week.

Aged for 46 years, this "Benromach Heritage 1972" is part of a recent duo of "Heritage" releases releases (the other being a 41yo from 1977), and was aged in a single refill American Hogshead, bottled at an impressive 55.7% ABV

Sidenote: I always love it when well-aged whisky is bottled at a high ABV, because it suggests the whisky was bottled based on taste, rather than simply eking out every last possible year, and sometimes ending up with an oaky 40.1% ABV mess...

Only 75 bottles are being released (true rarity, if you ask me) @ £1,500 (HK and Australian pricing TBC).

Benromach Heritage 1972 (55.7% ABV, 46yo, Cask #4471, Speyside, £1,500 (HK / AU pricing TBC))

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Colour: Intense deep orange copper.

Nose: There's a big citrus whack initially, some resinous oak, varnish, sweet mentholated notes, then some floral hints emerging - orange blossom mostly. Cassis (black currant) and pineapple notes show too. With a few drops of water, there's more pineapple (dried this time) and some honey. Beautiful. 

Palate: More citrus, but with earthy, tobacco undertones. There's some mango and pineapple, but now they've been charred on the BBQ. Slight coconut hints show, along with oak which develops on the tongue over time. With some water, it becomes significantly more tropical - more pineapple and more honey.

Finish: Long, citrus, oak and some grapefruit (which is accentuated by water).

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale):  92/100. A fantastic example of age bringing complexity without the cask dominating everything.

A big thanks to Benromach and G&M for the sample.

Cheers,

Martin.